Thursday's Thoughts

1 Thes 5:18 NLT

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.



I read recently that there is a fruit called the "taste berry" in Africa. This amazing fruit actually alters your taste buds to the point that everything you eat after the taste berry seems good and sweet. Wow! I can think of several places I've eaten on the mission field where I could have used that!

Think about this...
Gratitude is the "taste berry" of our Christian life. It produces contentment and a sweetness in life that flows from a grateful heart. Gratitude is not a feeling but a choice of our will, and it leaves very little room for discouragement and discontent.

One of the greatest enemies we have as believers is a lack of contentment which is usually the result of discouragement. We fall into the trap of relying on our circumstances for satisfaction. The reality is that there is NO source of contentment in this bankrupt world. Contentment is an inside job!

I love to study Paul and his life. He so seems to mirror so many of us. He had every right to be angry with God. He had been faithful. He lived a life of sacrifice and persecution for Christ's sake. Yet, the undertone of gratitude in Philippians chapter 4 is evident. It is an attitude that Paul intentionally chose to have. Did you know the word 'content' means 'contained'? Paul trained himself to focus on inner resources for contentment rather than his circumstances. And those inner resources were being replenished continually as he constantly depended on God and grew stronger in faith. He CHOSE to be grateful, to praise God - no matter what! Paul knew he could trust God and count on Him to come through for him.

We need to let this life-changing truth sink in to our little finite brains, get it in our gut - that there is a money-back guarantee on every single promise of God! There is no guarantee like the guarantee of God!

Gratitude also produces perseverance and strength! Did you ever consider this ... God trusts us with the trials, and it gives us the opportunity to choose gratitude! With our trials He 'grows' us. Wow! I should be about 100 feet tall by now, how about you? I've caught myself repeating the little catch phrase "I know God promised to never give me more than I can handle, but sometimes I wish He didn't trust me so much."

When trials come and life seems hard, we cry out for God to deliver us from the problem but many times His plan is to deliver us in the problem! O yeah, it's easy to practice gratitude when everything's going great, the sun is shining and our nets are full of fish! The real test of gratitude is in the middle of the greatest storms when the darkness rolls in and hurricaine force winds begin to wreak havoc!

Trust grows from making the choice to practice gratitude - even in the storms, and it thrives in the heart of acceptance. God is still in control! He's still God all by Himself! His ways are not our ways. We can't always understand His process, but we can always trust Him.